Verbs:담당하다 = to take responsibility, to be in charge of삭제하다 = to delete (files, names, etc…)겪다 = to experience, to undergo잔소리하다 = to nag생산하다 = to produce협의하다 = to discuss, to consult퇴장하다 = to leave당기다 = to pull밀다 = to push비비다 = to mix파다 = to dig소지하다 = to possess가입하다 = to become a member/join a club

In this lesson, you will learn the meanings of ~처럼 and ~듯(이). These are often used to indicate that an action is done “like” something else. We will go over the meanings of both of them, and describe the differences in this lesson. Let’s get started.

Like (a noun): (명사)처럼

When ~처럼 is attached to a noun, it often indicates that an action is done “like” the way the specified noun does it. Let’s look at a simple example:

아빠가 밥을 먹고 있어요 = Dad is eating (rice)

By using ~처럼, I can indicate that my father is eating rice “like” the way a pig eats. For example:

~처럼 can also be attached to nouns described by phrases using the ~는 것 construction. By describing a noun with an entire clause, you are able to make more complicated and descriptive sentences. For example, the following two sentences are similar, but included in the meaning of the second example is the context that comes along with ~았/었던 (you might want to check out Lesson 27 to see my discussion about this meaning):

By describing ~듯(이) with a clause using ~는 것, you can create the meaning of “as if…” For example:

그를 알아보지 못하는 듯이… = As if he didn’t recognize him…
그가 이해하지 못하는 듯이… = As if he didn’t understand…
그는 떠나기 싫다는 듯이… = As if he didn’t want to leave…
그가 죽은 듯이… = As if he were dead
가고 싶지 않은 듯이… = As if one doesn’t want to go…

~듯이 can also be placed directly to the stem of a verb/adjective to have a very similar meaning to the sentences above. However, there is a difference between using 듯이 after a descriptive word (as shown above) and adding ~듯이 directly to a verb/adjective. Assuming the verb is “하다” the different forms would look like this:

~하는 듯이
~하듯이

In general, the translation of both is “as if…” which makes distinguishing the two very difficult for foreigners.

In the sentences above (where 듯이 is not attached directly to the stem), the nuance is that the clause before 듯이 is somewhat of a guess. For example:

그는 이해하지 못하는 듯이 행동했어요
= He acted as if he didn’t understand
(I guess/it looked like he didn’t understand)

그는 떠나기 싫다는 듯이 울었어요
= He cried as if he didn’t want to leave
(I guess/it looked like he didn’t want to leave)

그 아이가 어려운 시련을 겪고 있는 듯이 수업 시간 동안 집중을 안 하고 울기만 해요
= During class, that boy doesn’t concentrate and only cries as if he is undergoing a difficult hardship
(He doesn’t concentrate in class, and just cries. I guess he is undergoing a difficult hardship)

When used like this, the two clauses (the clause before 듯이, and the clause after) have a direct relationship with each other. For example, in the first example above, the way that the person acted was a result of him not understanding.

However, when adding ~듯이 directly to a stem of a verb or adjective, one is indicating that the two clauses (the one before ~듯이, and the one after) are exactly the same (there is no guessing involved). However, the clause before ~듯이 is usually some ridiculous metaphor that (although “describing the situation”) is completely unrelated to the situation in the second clause. For example:

(Notice that adding something that starts with “ㄷ” causes no irregulars to come into play, so it is very easy to add this to stems).

(Also notice that I deliberately used the plain form conjugation in these five examples because the most common place you would find these sentences would be in novels. In novels (in Korean and in English), authors often create these metaphors to create imagery for the reader. Very rarely would one use these ridiculous metaphors in everyday conversation).

As you can see from the five examples above – there is no real connection between the first and second clauses. Their only relation is that they are linked by the feeling of the metaphor being described in the first clause. For example, in the first example above, the waterfall has no relation to the actual situation, and is only used to create a feeling inside the listener/reader.

… there is no metaphor that is being described. The speaker is simply saying that the ‘person looked at his father and walked past him’ and it appeared/seemed like ‘he didn’t recognize him.’

In all cases above, the “이” can be removed from “듯이” and the sentence will have the same meaning. However, I personally always say it as “듯이,” so I presented it that way in this lesson. I feel that it is hard to end the clause with “ㅅ” and it flows off my tongue better when I say“ 듯이.”

There is also a word “듯하다” which can be placed at the end of a sentence to mean “it seems like.” 듯하다 is usually placed immediately after a descriptive clause that is describing “듯하다.” For example:

The word “마치” is another one of those words that is put in sentences to allow the listener to expect what the speaker will say and provide feeling. In Lesson 43, you learned that 만약 is used in sentences where there is a supposition or assumption being made. For example:

In similar function of 만약 and 아무리, 마치 is often used in sentences to give the listener the expectation or feeling that one situation will be likened to another. Therefore, it is common to see 마치 used in sentences with ~처럼 or ~듯이. For example: